Speeches
Ambassador Fulton's Remarks at the Science & Technology Agreement Signing
September, 15, 2009
It is an honor to welcome you, Minister Sander, to the US Embassy today. I also welcome our esteemed guests, including some of the scientists who will operate under the agreement we sign today.
Minister Sander, I thank you for your leadership and support in
achieving this important bilateral science and technology agreement
between our two countries. It is an honor to represent President Obama and the United States in
Denmark, and it is a privilege to sign this agreement on behalf of the
United States. President Obama has made restoring science to its rightful place one of the priorities of his administration.
As President Obama told members of the U.S. National Academy of
Sciences on April 27: "We are restoring science to its rightful
place…Our progress as a nation –- and our values as a nation –- are
rooted in free and open inquiry. "
On the same occasion, President Obama also noted,
"We also need to work with our friends around the world. Science,
technology and innovation proceed more rapidly and more
cost-effectively when insights, costs and risks are shared; and so many
of the challenges that science and technology will help us meet are
global in character. This is true of our dependence on oil, the
consequences of climate change, the threat of epidemic disease, and the
spread of nuclear weapons.
The United States and Denmark have had a long and productive
relationship for many years, including collaborating in areas of
"green" science and technology. Minister Sander spoke of many. Some examples of the collaboration include memoranda of understanding between the: To give you a sense of the scale of ongoing scientific collaboration,
let me mention that over the first 9 months of 2009 alone, more than
350 U.S. government-sponsored scientists and officials, representing 15
different U.S. technical agencies organizations, have come to Denmark
(and Greenland) to collaborate with their counterparts on scientific
and technological projects. The U.S. agencies involved include the Department of Energy, the
Environmental Protection Agency, USAID, the Department of Veterans
Affairs, NASA, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science
Foundation, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Food and Drug
Administration, and the Department of Transportation, among others.) Collaborative activities include: international conferences and seminars;
providing technical support or technology training;
monitoring and inspecting medical and scientific equipment;
and fieldwork and site visits. Topics include: wind energy, hydrogen storage, tuna conservation
salmon sampling, the Greenland cryosphere,
antimicrobial resistance, H1N1 response,
polio surveillance, infection immunity, hearing loss, nanotechnology, bio-security, and radar technology;
to name just a few. I have recently come back from trips to Greenland, and am
fascinated by the research being undertaken “On Top of The World” -- US
and Danish researchers have been in the lead on ongoing research,
including drilling in the ice cap in Greenland to learn about the
history of climates on Greenland almost since the beginning of time.
Scientists from all over the world now have research projects there,
too. Their cooperative and collaborative efforts are remarkable. President Obama noted in his address to the National Academy of
Sciences that "in no area will innovation be more important than in the
development of new technologies to produce, use, and save energy --
which is why my administration has made an unprecedented commitment to
developing a 21st century clean energy economy, and why we put a
scientist in charge of the Department of Energy.” Like President Obama, I believe that through partnership and
collaboration with our partners, we dramatically advance the progress
on scientific and technological breakthroughs and development – and we
all benefit. Denmark is a leader in developing and successfully implementing
renewable energy resources – and its commitment to the development of
green technology may be unsurpassed. One of my goals as US Ambassador
is to learn about Denmark’s path towards becoming energy
self-sufficient. I believe there is much that we in the US can learn
from Denmark’s experience.
And I whole-heartedly agree with Minister Sander that the global
security of our world depends upon the abilities of nations like ours
to find a path to sustainable growth. This is a global challenge. We
must work together to find ways to reduce our dependence upon fossil
fuels, leave a smaller carbon footprint, and cause less environmental
pollution and damage to our planet.
The Obama administration shares the commitment to green research and
development. There are many areas in which we can partner as we work
towards common goals of development of sustainable energy and efforts
to arrest climate change. Research is imperative if we are to meet
these goals. The collaborative efforts of Danish and US universities
and technical centers, as well as government research laboratories,
will be the most cost-effective and quickest path toward attaining
these goals.
This December, Denmark will host the Climate Conference “COP-15”.
President Obama shares Denmark’s commitment to achieving an agreement
at COP 15, and has put the United States back into a leadership
position on arriving at global solutions to the global effects of
climate change. In addition to green technology, there are many related areas where
collaborative scientific research and cooperation also are essential.
We face global health issues, including possible pandemics.
Cooperation in researching and developing immunizations to known
diseases – as well as diseases that may manifest in the future – also
is important to our global security and well being.
Agriculture and food security is another area where collaboration can
have beneficial effects. With the increase of world population, areas
hit by natural disasters like drought or flooding, present challenges
for feeding people around the globe.
The signing of this Agreement marks the expansion of our bilateral
science relationship. This Agreement will open new doors, bring our
scientists together and further expand the flow of knowledge.
We are pleased to have some of our collaborating scientists,
researchers and officials with us here today, and we look forward to
bringing a delegation from our science agencies next year to take stock
of progress made under this agreement.
Thank you, again, Minister Sander, for your important leadership in accomplishing this agreement. Let us now sign the agreement.